BookTalk.org

Well, things are surely picking up... Or trending down. What an entrance to Whitby for our mustachioed Count of Darkness...that ship log was engaging and the beaching of the vessel, with its sole "remaining" crew member, was well done.

The infestation of darkness throughout the area surrounding Drac's new digs as well as the within the town folk is becoming pandemic in scale.

We have the first official, confirmed victim from our cast and Jonathan has been reintroduced to the story. Left off at a journal entry from Mina "Harker" , the first time with this surname in the time line, but we still have no clue about what has happened to Jon after Drac left him back in Transylvania.

Renfield seems to have a very strong connection to the presence of Drac and Lucy & her somnabulism seems to have made her the first mark...apparently having a disorder helps with the connection to the pervasive influence of the undead.

Could Dracula perhaps be a symbol of foreign influence, or more directly, immigrants having a disruptive and destructive influence on English society? He is invading their society and bringing the utmost in darkness and despair.

I was reading some commentary when I came upon this thought. It was just a single sentence, but it seems to make some sense. Could this be a reaction to modernization of the world at that time and a lamentation of the impact of that change from simpler times?

Just meeting Van Helsing. What an eccentric gent. It is a bit annoying reading his lines the way Stoker writes him...but, he is evidently the most aware of what is going on.

So interesting too about the transfusion. It seems blood typing was discovered around 1901. In the text, there is no discussion at all of any concern over giving a transfusion... Just who would do it, Seward or Van Helsing... Then Arthur shows up and he is chosen. So back before we knew, it was just a shot in the dark? I will have to do some research now...

Mr. Pessimistic wrote:Could Dracula perhaps be a symbol of foreign influence, or more directly, immigrants having a disruptive and destructive influence on English society? He is invading their society and bringing the utmost in darkness and despair.

This is a really good question, and I've thought about it for a few days with no clear answer to give other than how I view him in the first six chapters. This might change as the story progresses and more of his personality's revealed, but so far I see Dracula as highly intelligent and very logical. He understands morality, and it helps him to be more cunning. I've heard it said he's a predator, and I feel that in how he tries to control every situation by controlling his physical space with locked doors and pleas for his guest to stay so as not to venture off and get into trouble. His entire existence is governed by a series of strict rules designed to protect his secret. In this sense, the aging castle helps him because it's virtually a death trap waiting to collapse. So if he says, "Don't touch the walls because they're brittle," you believe him.

Now, the question goes back to yours. Was this done as more than a writing device? My guess is a lot of thought went into constructing Dracula but perhaps not in how some might think. William S. Burroughs mentioned how writers reveal themselves in their fiction whether they try or not. I suspect that period fears had a hand in creating Dracula but to what extent Bram Stoker actively did this, I have no clue. I'm not a Bram Stoker historian. So I'm speculating. However, one things is for certain. The book came out at a time when science and technology began to seriously challenge religion.

I got to thinking about the oceanic voyage of Dracula going to England. My guess is he traveled as follows:
Departed by Black Sea.
Passed through Bosporus Strait into Sea of Marmara.
Entered Aegean Sea.
Navigated the Mediterranean Sea.
Exited via the Strait of Gibraltar.
Sailed up by Portugal.
Entered Bay of Biscay.
Arrived in England.

If correct, it might explain why the captain's hands were tied to the ship's wheel. Theories are he feared leaving his post, but the Mediterranean Sea has strong storms. He might have started tying himself to the wheel before reaching the Bay of Biscay.

Brooks127 wrote:William S. Burroughs mentioned how writers reveal themselves in their fiction whether they try or not. I suspect that period fears had a hand in creating Dracula but to what extent Bram Stoker actively did this, I have no clue. I'm not a Bram Stoker historian. So I'm speculating. However, one things is for certain. The book came out at a time when science and technology began to seriously challenge religion.

The Wikipedia page on Bram Stoker is fascinating and detailed. He was an Irish Protestant who became a prominent London theatre manager, and wrote a number of novels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker

Robert Tulip wrote:The Wikipedia page on Bram Stoker is fascinating and detailed. He was an Irish Protestant who became a prominent London theatre manager, and wrote a number of novels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker

Thanks.

I checked out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stok ... philosophy and found this entry interesting, "Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some of Stoker's novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as The Lady of the Shroud (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably mesmerism, but despised fraud and believed in the superiority of the scientific method over superstition."

Now, I want to read a biography on his life.

Brooks127 wrote:... but so far I see Dracula as highly intelligent and very logical.

And this right here, to me, is THE most underrated aspect of the vampire mythos... The immortality and all the knowledge and experience it brings. I feel this gets downplayed so much vis a vis the more emotional aspects, like the sexuality or the evil. I might be inclined to suffer this curse if that would allow me to experience centuries of human existence. Maybe.

Brooks127 wrote:
Now, the question goes back to yours. Was this done as more than a writing device? My guess is a lot of thought went into constructing Dracula but perhaps not in how some might think. William S. Burroughs mentioned how writers reveal themselves in their fiction whether they try or not. I suspect that period fears had a hand in creating... The book came out at a time when science and technology began to seriously challenge religion.

And I agree. Authors are excellent at detaching themselves from their writing, but I do like detecting the unconscious biases and sentiments that in their work. Things so ingrained in the social conscious that they are super hard to omit. I am no literary critic or analyst, but I do sense these things sometimes.